Mount Vesuvius Erupts!

One of the topics Xander studied in history this week was Pompeii, and the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.

Who can study that without creating their own volcano?

First he built a mountain around an empty water bottle.

 Using a funnel, he added baking soda.

 Then dish soap.

We added a little red food coloring, and then the distilled white vinegar.

And stand back!

Mount Vesuvius erupted. We talked about how at first it was a slow eruption so some people's lives were spared as they had time to escape.

But eventually, it covered all of Pompeii - buried it.

Week 5

 We started out our week taking a half day off for Labor Day. With both Kaelee and Xander having classes outside the house this year, we have a weekly schedule that we have to stick with or else we get too far behind! Both kids worked on some larger projects so there wouldn't as much left for the remainder of the week, and then we enjoyed the rest of the day as a family.

Pool party Labor Day weekend

Tuesday we made our weekly library stop. Kaelee had a book club meeting and we took snacks and made an afternoon of it! 

Xman checked out some new joke books to keep us on our toes!

We enjoyed a nice snack at the picnic table right outside the library.

Lyndie is very much into exploring new places - she was fascinated with the wooden structure behind the picnic table.

Thursday it RAINED. That awesome summer afternoon kind of rain. So, what else was there to do? 

PLAY IN IT! 

Mid week Kaelee went on a field trip with some friends to the Michael C. Carlos Museum. They enjoyed the museum tour, a scavenger hunt and then an afternoon of picnicking and swimming and fellowship. 

Keeping Lyndie entertained during school hours has become a full time job. We divided her toys into baskets and rooms and try to rotate her through them each day - taking turns who plays animals, reads books, colors, etc.

Friday mornings we do geography all together through map drawing. Everyone (including me!) practices their map drawing skills. This week Kaelee is working on being able to sketch the entire United States, each state/capital and all major landforms/features. Xander and I are still working on the 7 continents and oceans!

Lyndie's new phrase is "me too." This week she got her own pencil box and spiral notebook. When we do school, "me too" does too!

For our fun Friday activity this week we played Multiplication Monsters of the Deep. It is sort of like go fish - in that you ask other players for the missing cards you need, and draw from the pile if they say "go fish." I like that it presents the "missing information" in different ways.

Such as:

9 X ____ = 45

or ___ X 4 = 12

In the first example, I would ask "do you have an orange 5 (the blanks are color coded in the game)?

Or, do you have a green 3 in the second example.

Let's Go Angels!

We are all enjoying fall baseball!

Lyndie insisted on wearing a tutu to go cheer on her big "Bubbe" this week. She spent all afternoon screaming "BASEBALL" - she was ready to go!

Xman pitched a great game. He pitched all 4 innings. We won 10 to 4!

Week 4

We just finished week 4 - wow how time flies!

We have settled nicely into a weekly routine:

Mondays - Mondays are "Math Love Mondays" - the big kids work on school work in the morning, while I supervise and ready our home for a day full of teenage guests. In the afternoon, Xman takes Lyndie to Nana's for a fun "nap and Nana day". Kaelee stays home with me to finish up her school work. She then goes to Drama in the afternoon/evening.

Tuesday - Tuesday is Kaelee's co-op day. We run her to co-op by 8:00. The two younger ones and I have been making our weekly grocery run on Tuesday morning. We can hit Walmart and be home by 9:30 easily. Xman works on his school work while Lyndie plays. Tuesdays Xander and I have a special lunch at home - and watch something on the Food Network!

Wednesday - Wednesday is my favorite day of the week. It's our full pajama day. We buckle down on Wednesdays. It's "day one" of Kaelee's school week, so we begin her new units. For Xander, it's his "day four" - and we ready all of his assignments to be turned in the next day. We typically take a longer mid day lunch break, while Lyndie naps. On Wednesday nights, the big kids go to church.

Thursday - Thursday is Xander's co-op day. We run him to co-op by 9:40. It's a girls day at home! Kaelee and I spend extra time on geography and Latin on Thursdays. We have a special lunch on Thursdays  and watch something on HGTV together.

Fridays - On Fridays, we leisurely work through our school day and try to plan  a fun activity for Friday afternoons!

Lyndie busy at play! 

 Kaelee reviewing the provinces, territories, and major features of Canada.

 Xman studying the skeletal system in Science.

 Kaelee moved on to the USA this week - we got out our big floor puzzle for her to practice locating where each state goes as well as their capitals.

 Lyndie in her fine motor skills center!

 The weather was cooler in the mornings this week so we spent a lot of time reading outside!

 Lyndie insists on writing too whenever the big kids are doing school work.

 Always time for a good book in our school day!

We decided that on Friday mornings, we would all work on geography together. We practiced our map skills by drawing a map of the United States. We've been working on using a grid method. I print a copy of the map we are going to work on. We divide it into 8 squares. We then use grid paper, dividing it into 8 squares, and practice drawing each square of the map individually. I find this helps the kids with spacing and orientating what goes where!